isleofavalon | May catch-all

Entry tags:

May catch-all

🧙 WHO: Gokudera and absolutely anyone
⚔️️ WHAT: Mid-May catch all (training and other stuff that comes up)
🕒 WHEN: Mid... May? Before the event
🗺️ WHERE: Multiple places
⚠️ WARNINGS: violence, mentions of past sexual slavery, language

A. Training Grounds

Larry is sitting out in the middle of the training field, blowing bubbles to contain lit sticks of dynamite Gokudera is throwing into the air. Gokudera has discovered he has elemental magic and is working on what he can with wind, trying to push the bubble back towards his familiar, or up safely away from them both. He’s not successfully done either, and has just been creating useless gusts. The dynamite explodes in the bubble, the bubble pops, and knocks him down. This is getting very very tiresome, and his gusts don’t seem to be getting any stronger or going where he thinks he’s aiming them.

“Fuck... why isn’t it working?” He glares and pushes himself back up.

B. The Red Spring

No new arrivals from Namimori, it seems. Gokudera had spent the day watching new arrivals climb the cliff, wondering if he’d see someone from home. The journey back had been familiar and helped somewhat to clear his mind. But he’s been looking forward to bathing in the Red Spring. He feels partially new to Avalon after his reawakening, gone for years, and his body aged and scarred, when he’d apparently never left Camelot. Anyone who recognizes Gokudera from last month or any time prior will see the difference. Those who responded to his network post will already understand. But for those who have never met him, he’s acting very much like a new arrival.

The teenager lowers into the spring, the trunks he’s wearing keep him decent, but there is nothing to hide the vivid burn scars and long tally-marks down his back. There’s a black leather half-choke collar about his neck, and occasionally, there is a glow from beneath it, against the skin of his neck that looks like it’s burned many times over. Despite the fact that there is electricity attached to his neck, he fully submerges for a moment, then surfaces and decides he’ll play with the more illusory side of his light magic.

If you are unlucky enough to be anywhere near him, he’ll walk right up and offer you his entire left arm. It’s not real. It’s a smoke bomb, a prank, but hey, as far as your character should be able to tell, he just took off his arm and is handing it to you.

“Hey can you watch this for me? Thanks.” And then he’ll be getting out of the water so his familiar can be amused.

C. Wildcard! Seriously. Do whatever.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Why would you want to convince people that monsters aren't real when they obviously are?" Gokudera, firm believer in all cryptids since he first ever heard of bigfoot when he was really little. Monsters are cool and he likes them better than pretty much every human he's ever met. Animals too. People suck.

The teenager would open up more, but he's only just met Nobunaga and still does not trust him.

"Am I able to relax without sake? I feel like I can hardly relax ever." He's always a ball of nerves. Sake would help. It'd be nice after this bath, too. Gokudera is still standing, seems to mull the idea over and then gives Nobunaga a considering look.

"I'll buy." It'll be easy to open up around someone he doesn't know very well. There's little expectation.

"They're not," he answered evenly.

"No no," Nobunaga waved a hand back and forth. "I interrupted your soak, it's my treat. I can bring a bottle out here if you'd like it here. Usually sake and hot springs go hand in hand in my time."

There is definitely no expectation. "But if you'd rather be dry..."

"They are." He responds, tone flat. They could go back and forth all day about this, honestly.

"..." Gokudera doesn't want to argue on this. He feels vulnerable in the bath ~~with an Elite~~ and like he may be a fool with alcohol in his system. It'd be easier to get away if he were dry. Plus, he can only take the warm water for so long before it makes him feel weak.

"I'd rather be dry. No reason I can't hang around, though..." Maybe he'll just sit on the bank and keep his legs in the water? Gokudera has a lot of unnecessary things he's worrying about. What if he's seen? What if that knife comes out and he's not well enough to defend himself? He's quiet, lost to his own worries, and getting up to sit while leaving his feet in the water, swishing about. Gokudera watches the ripples, wondering what all he should say and how long he's been spacing out, worrying his stupid platinum head off.

Nobunaga got out of the hot spring and gave a Roman legionnaire gladiator movie style salute.

"I'll be back."

The only problem with this plan Gokudera is that Nobunaga takes this to mean he should get fully dressed, so when he returns, he's got his Tangashima gun, and long as hell katana at his hip like it's nothing. And he's wearing the Oda symbols on both shoulders of his haori. He's either the real thing, or absurdly dedicated to the farce.

But he brings the sake and a couple of sakazuki over.

"Here or anywhere else. So long as you are comfortable, yes? I can't get used to the European chairs. I understand they weren't meant for warriors, but they're so uncomfortable." Probably because he doesn't take off the armor and sword and gun, but you know.

"Have you encountered many monsters in your world? Is that what the scars are from?" Since he's asking such a rude direct question, whether Gokudera wants to leave or not, he pours them both a cup and drinks to prove it's not poisoned, and leaves the other for Gokudera.

"Ah. Okay." Gokudera watches.

And when Nobunaga returns, he blinks in bewilderment. Oh! Well... guess if he's stuck in the spring, it isn't so bad. His familiar at least can hide him if that's what he needs. He's at a complete loss for what to do except stare rudely and watch as the sake is poured. Once Nobunaga drinks, Gokudera follows.

"Yes, and the two other worlds I was on. Most of the scars are from the first world... How much do you know about robots?" He imagines not very much, considering this is Nobunaga, but hey, better ask to be on the safe side.

Nobunaga sparkles with delight. "That's what I thought you were when you gave me your arm!"

Did anyone ever tell you Nobunaga was freak of his time period, and latched onto weird Nanban/Euoropean things and technology like an idiot? Because... he did.

In any case, he deflates a little.

"Not that I'm not glad you have both real arms." He totally is disappointed, and it shows.

"You fought robots?" Who even thinks like that?

"You thought I was a robot?!" Okay, saying it out loud and knowing what's visible on him... he could see it. It's not that ridiculous even if it feels like an absurd assumption to make.

"One thing at a time. You know what robots are. Do you know what cyborgs are, and zombies? Do you know what the black market is... conceptually?" There's a lot of different bases he'll need to make sure they can both understand before he goes to talking about his scars. He'll mention the cyber-body mods he's endured and seen done in good time. PATIENCE, NOBUNAGA! IT'S A VIRTUE!

"Cyborgs and robots are just the same, except with more squishy parts for cyborgs," Nobunaga nodded. "One called me a nerd, so I thought I'd try it out too." Listen...

Let's go back to the black market thing.

No, further back than that.

He shakes his head. "Never heard of zombies."

PATIENCE IS FOR NERDS!!!!

"We have the black market in the 1500s, Gokudera. It's usually why people make up stories of monsters, in my experience." But go on, he's listening.

"Okay, look. If you want to know where I got my scars, stop trying to discredit what I'm trying to explain. I don't make the rules, but the shit that happened in those other worlds... not the same as Earth and definitely not the same as Avalon. Cyborgs are humans with robotic modifications. Robots are completely inorganic and created to serve a function. That's like saying humans and bridges are the same. If you knock a person over, you can use them as a bridge but they are not a bridge. Get it? Okay... Getting off topic here..."

Gokudera scratches at his damp hair, the collar about his neck jingling with the motion. "Zombies are reanimated corpses that eat humans. If a zombie bites a person, and that human escapes, that person then dies and becomes a zombie. Zombies are typically slow-moving and can only be killed by destroying their brain."

He takes a deep breath, gives a slight groan at Nobunaga's explanation of the black market, but accepts it. He's going to need to drink more. This is going to become difficult.

"I was from a Japan sometime after 2010, then I came here. Then I went back home, traveled ten years into the future where some lunatic was destroying ever version of my family across every dimension he could get to. My boss killed him, and then I was supposed to go back to my regular time, but ended up being transported to a world called Amoi. Very futuristic. I'm talking... hover vehicles, retinal scans, cyborgs, robots, and some amazing advances in engineering.

But all that cool stuff... mostly only legal to people who could afford it, the Elite. The world was split into a caste system. Which, sucked... whatever, but mostly was the worst because it was based on hair color. Not important, but relevant." He holds up his glass and tries to figure out the shortest way to explain the largest scar on his body. Maybe he should cut this all short. Robot fight, black market abduction, torture, fighting a dragon, becoming a pet, hopping into a riot, getting bitten by a zombie... he's quiet for a moment, wondering if Nobunaga has questions, or if he's just going to try and argue or dismiss any of what the bomber has said.

He was confused about calling humans and bridges the same, and when Gokudera explained, he just laughed. Got it.

As for zombies....... the fuck?

As for the rest, no. There's no interruptions from Nobunaga. He's just waiting patiently.

But the mention of castes gets narrowed eyes. It seems like the further into the future humanity gets, the further from his vision of a brighter future? Why? What changed after the 2000s and 2100s??? What was the critical point that altered things? That snapped it like a rubber band?

Nobunaga just sips his sake, and gets ready to refill Gokudera's, even though normally it'd be everyone else's job to serve him, he thinks it's pretty obvious that Gokudera wasn't in the elite of the caste, and Oda really really fucking hates the caste systems. Maybe he should be careful how much he drinks himself, no one needs a cranky Nobunaga with even less holding him back.

But maybe it was worse in other worlds, not Earth. So maybe if anything, it was proof Nobunaga had done some good on Earth? Ahhhhh so why can't he quell his temper about it?

Not important. He can address later, if ever.

That would would have been 6000 years into the future and on a completely different planet. Nobunaga could do nothing about it, so sure, he saved Earth and Amoi lacked a person like Nobunaga to help stop what happened.

"Thank you." For the refill. Gokudera sips a little bit of it before going on with his story. "Anyways, off-worlders, understandably did not like the caste system. Elites were given a regular, generous allowance and housed in the Golden city of Tanagura, and mongrels had to live out in the slums of Midas and struggle to get by. You can imagine that most uprising or riots were led by mongrel off-worlders. I've been in a couple. My boss was there, helping, but... he would have been an Elite at the time, so he wasn't taken in, beaten, drugged, and questioned."

He takes another drink, staring down at the sake. "The authorities were usually robots, nothing too bulky. The government definitely had large, armored ones used to combat heavier forces, but those were pretty dormant. One day, they weren't, and attacked everyone regardless of caste. Now... I fight with explosives, which were working well. Things weren't too bad, but I got thrown into a burning building so... you can imagine that did a number on me."

He finishes that glass of sake. "An Elite bought me, took me in, got me repaired. And then when he noticed that I had other mongrels that wanted to see me... for not telling him, he punished me. I..." Wow, he's never worded it quite like this before.

"That's where the burns on my back came from. That, and on another world, I got bitten by a zombie. I had powers. This world has gotten rid of them, but... in order to keep everyone around me safe, I set myself on fire from the inside out. Worked well. Upset my fiancé, though. I came back to life, though..." He can see that Nobunaga is at least interested in the story so far, and Gokudera's jumping around with it a bit, trying not to focus too much on the trauma, and focus more on how he got his scars.

"The black market abducted me to try and harvest my heart, since that would have been the source of my blood, where my powers come from. There was another mongrel that did that. Gave me the tally marks on my back trying to figure out whether the power came from emotion or blood. That sucked. He crushed my arm when I tried to summon one of my weapons." Gokudera goes quiet, uncertain whether he's done or not.

"I've also fought a dragon, and a crazy bastard back home with way too many throwing knives and deadly accuracy. Hmm... I think that covers most of the scars..."

"You set yourself on fire," Nobunaga interrupted at that, sternly. Why are right hands like this?

But then he forgets everything by the idea of the black market abducting him for the heart. 'That sucked' got a bitter laugh. It more than sucked!

And Nobunaga flat out winced about the arm getting crushed.

Then he just handed Gokudera the whole damn bottle. The skeptical stubborn atheist in him wanted to scream how it couldn't be real, but he could tell it was. AND that Gokudera was only sharing it, because well, Nobunaga was as emotionally distant to the kid as a fucking wall, and damn that is a lot. "Did you win against the dragon?"

Very important.

Another headshake. "Hey, do you think I could practice some healing magic on you?"

"Yeah. It hurt but it didn't take long." Storm flames destroy pretty much everything. Yamamoto stabbed him in the head, and he turned completely to ash in a matter of minutes.

Gokudera accepts the bottle with his left hand, the one that had been crushed. It isn't scarred too badly, but it's clear some of those fingers don't look right when he bends them. It's slightly disfigured. Just to be polite, Gokudera pours himself more, then sets the bottle back. His face is getting a bit pink from the alcohol, but it's easier to talk, and it all doesn't suck as much to think about.

"Yeah. Didn't fight it alone. I took one of its claws home and mounted it on the wall of my shitty... shipping container home. It was bigger than me. All cause my owner at the time thought it would be fun to fight and like hell I was going to let him fight the thing alone."

At the question about healing magic, Gokudera blinks and lifts an eyebrow at him. "Why?" What if it just makes him sober up? He wants that less than anything at the moment. It takes a moment for him to decide that he doesn't really care all that much. He throws back his sake and then gives a shrug.

"Do whatever you want..." What's he got to care about anymore?

"Owner..." He'd said he'd been bought, but Nobunaga didn't quite think of it like that before. The normally ice cold eyes blaze quietly.

A deep breath and a quiet huff.

"Never say that," he growled darkly. "If I punch you, and it still hurts, at the very least, keep your spirit."

All right, he has to think carefully. He doesn't want to heal the effects of the alcohol, but he does want to prevent any long term damage, and Nobunaga just channels all his anger and frustration with other worlds, caste systems, idiocy, things so far beyond his ability to control, the crushed spirit of this man who didn't even see himself as a weapon, but as something less than, and oh that burns Nobunaga inside out...

He throws it as emotionally and magically into the sake Gokudera's drinking as he can.

"Shit."

He overdid it again. He always will. He has no capacity to moderate anything. It goes against his grain. He has a spinning headache, and he sprawls out on the ground. "Well..." ahhhh breathing is more labored than he expected. Okay. Focus on that first. Nobunaga's grateful that he doesn't have to save face around the young man. And...? Breathe. "I did something?" The world is spinning. And Nobunaga laughs, resting a hand over his eyes. At least he can still move it. "Now you just have to find out what." More quiet laughs.

"Yeah. Owner." Gokudera grumbles. He's not as upset as Nobunaga seems, which amuses him. He's been a pet twice, is used to living as less than most for... most of his life.

"Tch what are you talking about? You don't even know me." He won't just let Nobunaga punch him. He certainly won't stop him, but he's not just going to let him hit him and get away with it. Gokudera's been beaten down, sure, both figuratively and literally, but that doesn't mean he wants that to continue.

"I don't feel any different." Gokudera says, shrugs, and pours himself more sake. He can hold his alcohol surprisingly well, or maybe he just won't feel it until he tries to stand up. He sips at the sake, then gets out of the water to crawl over to Nobunaga. He hesitates, then picks up that hand over those eyes and drops it, so Nobunaga hits himself.

"You sleeping or something?"

"Not yet," annoyed glare! He can't work up the energy to get up more beyond that though. "I don't sleep easily." True story.

"But there's no way people would be better off without you. Tell me more about monsters."

"Oh yeah? You look like if you aren't sleeping, the sake is gonna knock you out." And he tries to stand up, but wow he's wobbly. Ok yep... there it is. Gokudera stumbles, but his familiar is right there, holding him up.

"What kinds? I think people are the worst monsters. I met a Pegasus once! And a Demigod...." He smiles. "And Alexander the Great..." he sounds so fond of these people. "Back home, I had a leopard kitten powered by my dying will! It could become a full grown leopard and his name was Uri and he was so cool! Kind of a bad attitude, but... just the best animal I've ever met."

"You met Alexander the Great and doubted me?" Yo. He's so wounded now!

"Ah?" Nobunaga sat back up, the kid seemed more lively at least! He nodded, "People are the worst. But if you like leopards, you might like Masamune's tigers. He had a tiny cub named Shogetsu, and a big one for his familiar. Olivia has a tiny pegasus," he held his hands up to approximate about the size of a cat! "Rose and Kitsuno have phoenixes. But Kitsuno and Mitsuhide have fox pets, and then Mitsuhide and a few others have kitsune familiars."

Speaking of which, "What about your....?" a vague gesture for Gokudera's invisible familiar.

“To be fair, he has his powers and could summon his chariot and an army. You just showed me your familiar. Everyone on this world has one. Also he admitted to being a spirit and was able to tell me details of his life that you can only read little bits about. You expounded on your story, so I do believe you, but… it’s kind of odd.” Gokudera looks up. “He was a great lover.” Which sure, would seem a odd coming from a teenager like him. BUT he neglected to tell Nobunaga that Amoi was a world focused on sex. Whoops details are important.

“Hmm? Larry? He’s a Lariosauro… like an Italian lake monster. C’mon Larry, it’s cool.” And the sea monster appears, eyes way too wide apart, large and blinking one after the other. It has large, webbed paws and looks like someone put manatee skin on a giant rubber lizard toy. It doesn’t look right… odd and kind of stupid, and sort of cute.

Larry drags his body up and nudges his head towards Nobunaga. His entire body is roughly the size of a horse, and he slowly opens his mouth, no teeth visible.

"I mean you could ask me abo--"

Nobuanga can't help it!!! He just blushes at the part about Alexander being a great lover. Damn. Oda knows he's being SO UNCOOL. He can't help it though!

He just glances sideways! He hopes he's living up to Kitsuno's expectations. Something something...

"Hello Larry," Nobunaga leans his hand out to the monster's head. "I have no idea what Italian lake monsters eat." Yes.

"Have you ever been to Italy in the 2000s? I know you said you were raised in Japan. Do we have a good relationship with them now? I mean... in the 2000s? Last you were there." He goes to see if the monster likes under the chin scritches. "All I know of Italy is what the Portuguese told me. You're the first one I've met here to even mention it."

A small huff. "Sorry if Kimon startled you. It's honestly strange not to be treated like that just from my name and title. I still think it'd help if I could wear fake oni horns or something, but even for me that's a little -- what's the modern term?" A quiet moment before he nods, "Try-hard."

Coochi coochi coo! He's probably going to get his fingers bit. "I hunted all over Japan looking for oni. But the only monsters I found were humans making up stories to cover for their failures. Was Alexander really--?" NOPE BLUSHING AGAIN! "F-forget I said anything." WHY IS HE EVEN CURIOUS AHHHHHH.

“About…?” Gokudera asks, grinning, his tone leaning towards a tease because it’s funny how he’s making a grown man blush so he’s not just gonna stop.

“I’d assume Larry eats fish, but I’ve seen him eat all manner of things he can fit in his mouth.” Gokudera watches as his familiar bumps his head into that hand, demanding pets. The chin scratches are nice, but then, the creature would approve of attention of any kind. Nobunaga could pat out a beat on the monster’s side and it would be alright with that.

“I’ve spent most of my life on the streets of Sicily. Relations are fair and amicable.” Larry doesn’t care, reacts as much as a wet sofa to whatever Nobunaga does.

“Alexander had many lovers both while he was alive, and on Amoi. It felt like a natural progression. If you were a friend, he loved you, and would not be afraid to tell and show you.” Alexander also was a poor listener, in Gokudera’s opinion. The man just kind of immediately assumed Gokudera needed a friend, and then he was relentless with invading his space. So much so that it got the boy in trouble with his first owner.

If you tell Nobunaga that, he might indeed to try to play the familiar like a drum, just to see if it likes it. For now, he's delighted to cover it with affection!

"Sicily." So cool, Gokudera!

BUT THEN HE BLUSHES LIKE CRAZY ALL OVER AGAIN ABOUT ALEXANDER AHHHHHH.

"Right, yeah..." alksjdalksjdlaskdjalskdjaslkjd

He temporarily stops scritching Larry to cover his face with both hands. Be cool. Okay. Deep breath.

Back to hesitantly playing with Larry. "I... I was told some of Greek and Roman relationships like that..." Ahhhhh kill him with embarrassment now. "When the Portuguese missionaries and merchants were around. It wasn't too uncommon for lords and young samurai, or pages... nanshoku. But I--" He laughs and shakes his head. "I don't think I could ever be that free with... anyone." Granted, we are talking about a man who just commands people he likes to his bed, but it's different!

Another laugh and headshake. "Of all the things I would ask Alexander the Great... his battles, whether he really believed the Oracle, or just himself, Gods, why vengeance, what he thought of guns," a head tilt, "How to fix the situation you were in -- that's probably what your..." Owner. Owner. GRRRRR... "Human monster thought he was actually there for," a snort. "Of all that, I think sex might have been the bottom of my list." He laughs, but in a delighted way, not the least bit mocking. His estimate of Gokudera has gone up just for that approach, so different from his own.

"What was Sicily like? Did you ever meet a being like Larry before coming here?"

Larry is relatively still, almost like he’s spacing off while receiving the attention. Honestly, he’s a very absent-minded creature.

“That’s fine. I don’t think it’s an expectation. I’ve never met anyone as open as him. I feel like he could have loved anyone, honestly... Human monster? Oh! Fuck, sorry... I forgot to mention- [Did he? Oh well better say it anyways.] that world I was on was obsessed with sex. Alexander was a mongrel on that world, and he was a pet as well to an Elite. Most Elites who were off-worlders would be uncomfortable owning another person, but it would be necessary to ensure they had a home... and food. Unfortunately, my first owner and I didn’t really get along very well. So he helped split us up.” He takes a new sip of the sake, feeling like this conversation is much easier.

“I was homeless for a while, but then I got a new owner. He left after a few really good months...” He looks down at his left hand, at the engagement ring and gives a soft sigh. Oh well better to have loved and lost!

“It was beautiful. No I’d never met anything like Larry before. Only heard stories of something like him.”

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cw: mentions of slavery

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